The major indicated earlier this year that it would look to divest some downstream assets, but has been mum on particulars. OPIS sources say that a prospectus on the facility, which has the capability of holding more than 1million bbl of clean products, went out to buyers on Friday, Dec. 17.  

The terminal location is strategic since it can accept ocean-going tankers from around the world, but it is primarily thought of as a jet fuel port with over 500,000 bbl of jet storage. Its storage also feeds Logan Airport through a proprietary pipeline. The facility also has several hundred thousand barrels of gasoline storage as well as close to 75,000 bbl of ethanol tankage as well as diesel storage of just under 50,000 bbl.  

A deepwater terminal with about 1 million bbl of clean products storage might attract the usual assortment of Master Limited Partnerships looking to grow. However, the facility might also appeal to trading companies looking for a home to move the many North Atlantic cargoes of fuel likely to crowd the oceans later this decade.  

A potential drawback? Logistics companies with an interest in expanding into Boston suspect that ExxonMobil will at some point put its huge Everett, Mass., terminal up for sale. That complex is viewed as the premier terminal in the area with over 2 million bbl of clean storage.  

The decision by ConPhil to sell the Boston terminal is not a vote of confidence for its presence in the region. Mergers and acquisitions sources suspect that ConPhil will look to sell either its Trainor, Pa., or Bayway, N.J., refinery next year as it scales back on downstream assets and concentrates on the more profitable upstream sector. PBF’s Tom O’Malley is believed to be interested in one or both of those plants.